Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Milan-Genoa Preview Part II: Biting the Hand that Feeds You

It’s
not often that I have to write 2 previews for one match. But so much has
changed in the past 10-12 days, the previous
post seems barely relevant, even though it is the same matchup. For one,
we’ve already played the round that was supposed to happen after this one, and
both of us had less than desirable results. Secondly, they don’t even have the
same coach as they did 2 weeks ago. But most importantly, with all that has
transpired since then, this match has even greater significance for both teams.
Should we win, we will truly be biting the hand that feeds us.

This
is the match that was scheduled for Saturday the 14th, but then the unthinkable
happened and all of the games were postponed. During the days leading up to the
previously scheduled match, the Genovese fans had grown restless to the point
that the team had to train under police watch for their safety. I thought that
was bad, but their match vs. Siena this past Sunday was interrupted by
ultras, who delayed the match for over 40 minutes, throwing flares on the
pitch, climbing on top of the tunnel, keeping their team hostage on the pitch, and
asking the players to take off their shirts, claiming Genoa players were not
worthy to wear them. After captain Marco Rossi, goalkeeper Sebastian Frey, and
especially midfielder Giuseppe Sculli, who never removed his shirt, had personally
bargained with them, the ultras relented and allowed the match to finish, a 4-1
loss to Siena, with Siena scoring an own goal. Keep in mind that there was
already fan unrest between the two clubs back in December, causing police to
use tear gas which ended up delaying that match for a while, too.

So
of course after Sunday’s display, Malesani was never going to be allowed to
stay, and for the second time this season, he was fired as Genoa coach. Genoa
have opted for Gigi De Canio, most recently coach of Lecce through last season,
but also having coached Genoa previously, back in 2004. He will have been in
charge for less than 72 hours by the time we kick off tomorrow. For this
reason, I am not even going to try to guess his lineup, I’ll only say that my
sources say that Marco Rossi and Giandomenico Mesto are both suspended for this
match due to card accumulation, so he’s starting out with a handicap in
personnel.

De Canio: "Wait, what did the Genoa fans do? I was napping."

Milan
are finally on the flip side this season, with the return of Thiago Silva,
Boateng, and also Ambrosini expected. Allegri will finally have the problem of
having to choose from multiple players for each position instead of putting out
the least injured 11. I’ll throw out a guess as to his starting lineup, but
don’t put any money on it, you are likely to lose that bet. So… Abbiati, Abate,
Nesta, Silva, Urby; Nocerino, van Bommel, Muntari; Boateng; Cassano, Ibra.
Again, so many choices, hopefully he can find the perfect combination. And for
the record, El Shaarawy said he wouldn’t celebrate against Genoa, the club that
brought him here, so he deserves some time to put his actions where his mouth
is.

But
the real question is how will Genoa play? After having been completely
emasculated by their fans, will they find the fire within to stage an amazing
comeback and fight to stay up in Serie A? Or will the humiliation break them
and keep them from playing well at all? Will the new coach revitalize them or
will he confuse them and cause them to
stumble further? Despite the poor results, Milan have their strongest squad in
a long time to lineup to face our troubled neighbors. Will we trounce them and
grab 3 points, or will they be shown some mercy?

It's okay, you are more than worthy to wear the Milan shirt, Thiago!

Milan
are in a tight spot, because we need the 3 points, and of course you always
play to win. But winning will almost certainly guarantee Genoa relegation, and
they have partnered with us on more loan deals and 50% ownership deals than any
other team in recent history, so we need them in Serie A. So in essence, by
doing our jobs and winning tomorrow, we are biting the hand that feeds us. Not
a great spot to be in, but we can always win it and hope that Genoa change
their own fate. After all, our own fate rides more on our own performances,
with a little luck from others. Let’s do this thing then!